Sam Biddle

According to the usual band of invisible anonymous sources, the Wall Street Journal says Google's cooking up its own AirPlay rival. Are they? Probably!

According to the Journal, Google has a single "entertainment system" in mind, which would download and sling songs to Google-made speakers. So, something along the lines of a Sonos system? According to anonymous sources, the "entertainment system" will be out "later this year."

The rumor makes sense: with Android, Google has tablet and phone offerings, just like Apple, along with its own music store, just like Apple. What they lack is a way of beaming all of that music to speakers and boxes around your house—which Apple very much has, and makes playing music on iOS a hell of a lot of fun. So we'll "wait until then" to "see if it happens," but "don't be surprised if it does." [WSJ]